


you've got this strange effect on me

by sonlali



Series: Cuddling Ficlets [11]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, Post-Season/Series 06, in front of the fireplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24332386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonlali/pseuds/sonlali
Summary: alexis returns to schitt's creek from new york for christmas and twyla offers her a place to stay. they catch up in front of the fireplace.
Relationships: Alexis Rose/Twyla Sands
Series: Cuddling Ficlets [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1614172
Comments: 20
Kudos: 51





	you've got this strange effect on me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NeelyO](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeelyO/gifts).



> prompt fill for neelyo from [this cuddling prompt list.](https://language-of-love.tumblr.com/post/190450918007/cuddling-prompts-send-me-a-and-ill-write-a) thanks for the prompt!
> 
> 4\. In front of the fireplace 
> 
> title from "strange effect" by unloved and brought to you by obsessive listening to the killing eve soundtrack

Alexis is dragging her suitcase up the stone steps leading to the front door. She’s beginning to regret packing that seventh pair of shoes. Her heel slips along a patch of ice and Alexis steadies herself on a handrail, shrieking with frustration. The door swings open and Twyla’s smiling face appears.

“Alexis!!” Twyla’s grin stretches from ear to ear and her face is positively glowing. She steps out onto the porch and grabs the suitcase from Alexis’ hands, ignoring Alexis’ half-hearted objections. “I thought I heard your voice!”

Alexis relinquishes the suitcase easily and follows Twyla into the house, peering curiously around Twyla’s space. Twyla sets the suitcase just inside the entryway and wraps Alexis in a warm, friendly hug. When Alexis reluctantly pulls back, Twyla is beaming at her.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Alexis! Come in! Make yourself at home.” Twyla leads them into a sitting area, where there is a chunky hand-knit throw spread out along a cozy-looking loveseat facing a brick fireplace complete with a roaring fire. “Let me take your coat.”

Alexis gravitates toward the fire, seeking warmth from the uncharacteristically frigid temperatures outside. Alexis can’t remember Schitt’s Creek being this cold and icy when she lived here. Twyla disappears with Alexis’ coat, so Alexis takes advantage of her absence to examine the room’s decor. There are a handful of candles set atop of the fireplace, flickering cheerfully and making the room smell like fresh-baked cookies with perhaps a hint of cinnamon? Or maybe a note of cloves? The room smells cozy and welcoming and very much like Twyla. Alexis inhales deeply and feels a smile spreading across her face. 

The rest of the decor is tacky, but somehow Alexis doesn’t mind. The room feels friendly and comfortable and makes Alexis feel instantly at ease. She’s reaching out to touch a large crystal when Alexis senses a presence directly behind her. She spins around and Twyla is so close Alexis could count the freckles sprinkled across Twyla’s cheeks. Suddenly there is nothing Alexis would like to do more than to count Twyla’s freckles. 

“Twy! I… I didn’t hear you come up. Um, sorry?” Alexis cringes. She wouldn’t normally feel at all uncomfortable snooping around another person’s place, but Twyla’s gaze is penetrating, her expression inscrutable, and Alexis feels an odd desire to please Twyla. She wants to make Twyla smile, to make Twyla feel as seen and accepted as Twyla always makes her feel. She doesn’t want to seem as if she’s judging Twyla’s belongings. 

“Alexis,” Twyla says, her eyes soft and her pretty pink lips forming a smile. “I told you to make yourself at home. What’s mine is yours.” Twyla grabs Alexis’ hand and gives a quick squeeze, sending an electric current through Alexis’ body. 

Ever since leaving Schitt’s Creek, Alexis has been thinking a lot about Twyla. She’s considered Twyla a friend since shortly after arriving in the town, but saying goodbye had been unexpectedly difficult. Alexis hasn’t been able to get Twyla out of her mind since the day Twyla stopped by the motel to say that she had purchased the café. The day that Twyla had offered to help Alexis get a place to live in New York, when she so readily offered to share her money with Alexis. _What’s mine is yours._ And Twyla actually, really, truly means that. 

Since day one, Twyla has been nothing but generous and welcoming toward Alexis. And Alexis really _did_ mean it when she said they should keep in touch, when she suggested that Twyla come visit. But it has been three months since she left Schitt’s Creek and Alexis hasn’t called or texted Twyla once. Twyla has texted a few times, and Alexis really did plan on responding, but turns out being an independent and successful girl boss takes a lot of time. 

Alexis stares into the fireplace, focusing on the bright orange flames crackling merrily. She hasn’t been that busy, though, has she? Not so busy she couldn’t return a text. And yet, every time she tried, the words just wouldn’t come, and Alexis is very rarely at a loss for words. Alexis is not sure what it is about Twyla that is making her feel as if she’s navigating uncharted territory or tripping her way down a bumpy path. 

Alexis is distracted from her thoughts by a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You must be cold. Make yourself comfortable. You can use my blanket, and I’ll go make us some cocoa, okay?” Twyla glides serenely from the room, and Alexis curls up on the loveseat, wrapping herself in Twyla’s thick knitted blanket and inhaling deeply. It smells sweet and familiar, not unlike Twyla. 

Alexis isn’t sure how she feels about being back in Schitt’s Creek, even if it is only for a few days for Christmas. She’s excited to see her family, even if David has been so obnoxious lately about making the Brewers’ first Christmas in Schitt’s Creek perfect. She’s met Patrick’s parents before — she imagines that their style inspiration came from a 1992 edition of _Canadian Living_ , so he really doesn’t need to go to such efforts to impress them. But David likes to control things and yell at people for forgetting tiny details, like how the Brewers are staying in David and Patrick’s guest room, leaving Alexis with nowhere to stay. 

_Ugh!_ How is she expected to remember every detail of his boring life!? Luckily for her, Twyla had overheard David shouting rudely at her over the phone and offered up her guest bedroom to Alexis. Alexis’ only other options would be to get a room at the motel ( _been there, done that, never again_ ) or stay at Stevie’s sad little apartment ( _ew_ ). 

“...and that’s why no one on my dad’s side of the family is allowed back at the Elm Glen zoo,” Twyla says, as she hands Alexis a steaming mug of hot cocoa. Had Twyla been talking all this time? Okay, so maybe she actually does need to be a better listener. 

She accepts the mug with a smile and boops Twyla on the nose with her free hand. Twyla settles in beside Alexis on the loveseat and tugs the blanket so it covers both of their laps. Alexis feels a surprising thrill of excitement shoot down her spine. It feels really… well, really nice to be sitting so closely to Twyla, to be sharing a blanket and sharing body heat. Twyla hums softly under her breath, and Alexis finds herself leaning closer, pressing their shoulders together more firmly. 

“Thanks for letting me stay, Twy. Your place is, um, a lot… cozier than I was expecting,” Alexis says.

“What were you expecting?” Twyla laughs, low and throaty, and Alexis finds herself staring at Twyla’s mouth. “Did you think I lived somewhere cold and damp?”

“Um, no?” In truth, Alexis had imagined Twyla living in a sad, tiny apartment above the café, or maybe in a tree in the woods. Something like that. But instead she’s in this huge Victorian-style house. The interior design is outdated and tasteless, and the outside is overrun with ill-maintained vegetation, but it’s a surprisingly spacious and welcoming home. 

“My Aunt Rosemary left this house to me. She asked me to house sit when I was 17 while she was following Run-DMC. But then they went on tour, so she didn’t need the disguises any more. She came home to drop off her costumes trunk and said she wasn’t planning on coming back and the house was all mine! So, that’s how I ended up with this big, old house. It sometimes gets a little lonely living in such a big place all by myself, but occasionally my cousin Mindy comes to visit. I can hear her up in the attic on really quiet nights.” 

Alexis considers talking about the time she almost had a threesome with Matthew McConaughey and the spirit that lives in his guesthouse, but then Twyla rests a hand on Alexis’ knee and all coherent thought exits her mind. 

All at once, Alexis feels overheated, like the flames have leapt from the fireplace and are licking along her ribcage, down her neck, at her fingertips, and — _ugh, ew!_ — flushed and sweaty is only a cute look for her immediately after really good sex. And now she’s thinking about sex with Twyla. It’s not like the thought has never crossed her mind — she has eyes after all — but it’s never been something she’s seriously considered. Except since leaving Schitt’s Creek, those brief, fleeting thoughts about Twyla have only increased. 

Alexis prides herself on the way she never shies away from a risk and always gets what she wants. It’s such a waste of time to sit around pining for someone. That’s such a David thing to do. Alexis Rose absolutely does not pine. This is _not_ what has been happening. She has just been… thinking about Twyla a lot. More specifically, Alexis has been thinking of herself with Twyla. Twyla makes Alexis cautious in a way she rarely ever is. Alexis has always acted first and considered the consequences later, confident that every situation will work out favorably. 

There’s something about Twyla, though, that makes Alexis pause and reflect on whether she’s doing what’s right for her and what’s best for the people she cares about. It’s not that Alexis doesn’t care — she just likes to go full force toward what she wants and sometimes forgets to think about other people’s feelings, and even her own feelings for that matter. But Twyla has been there through some of the biggest moments in Alexis’ life — through heartbreaks and graduations and the tremulous first steps in her career. Whenever Alexis has felt uncertain about where she is going and what she is doing, Twyla has helped give Alexis the clarity to make important decisions. Twyla has been the person Alexis has trusted as a sounding board and for advice. And when Twyla offered Alexis money before she moved to New York, it had been Twyla’s own words that made Alexis refuse the cash. 

Twyla had told Alexis not long before Alexis left Schitt’s Creek that she always makes the right decision and it was the confidence in Twyla’s voice that helped Alexis to see that she really can take care of herself, that she really can do this on her own. Alexis has always been independent and self-assured, but she has also always had a boyfriend or a hefty cash flow or David to rely on. In the moment that Twyla offered Alexis money, Alexis realized that she didn’t need any of that any more. 

Twyla is probably the best person Alexis has ever met. She’s generous, takes care of the people she loves, and always sees the positive in a situation. Knowing that Twyla is confident in Alexis’ future has meant more to Alexis than she could have ever anticipated. Twyla makes Alexis feel like she’s capable of being better, of striving for more, with a quiet reassurance that she always has faith in Alexis. Twyla’s confidence in her has also helped Alexis to pause and reflect on what really matters to her, and she’s coming to realize that one of the things that matters the most is Twyla. 

“But the boobies are lopsided, so I think we’ll have to start over,” Twyla says with a shrug as she leans forward to set her mug on the coffee table. 

“Um, what?!” 

“The blue-footed boobies!” Twyla grins. “For the café’s sign. Gwen’s friend up in Elm Lake is designing a new sign from the café. I thought it would be nice to freshen up the look now that I’m taking it over.”

“Um, _yes_ , that sounds so cute for you, Twy! Love that.” Alexis sets her mug on the table next to Twyla’s and shifts to face Twyla more fully on the loveseat. “Um, anyway, Twy? I’m really sorry that I haven’t really been in touch since I left.”

“Oh, that’s okay, Alexis. I know you must be super busy in New York!”

“No, but… I mean, yes, obviously I am very busy, but still, um, I do actually really miss you, and I would like to… maybe keep in touch better from now on?” Alexis sweeps her hair over one shoulder and runs her fingers through it, trying to organize her thoughts. She feels uncertain and off balance but maybe a little bit excited at the possibility of… _something_ with Twyla. Twyla cocks her head to the side and is looking at Alexis like she’s just realized something. 

Twyla leans in, her green eyes sparkling, and Alexis feels like she’s being drawn to Twyla’s lips, like a tide rolling in toward the shore, unable to resist the gravitational pull. Twyla cups Alexis’ cheek in one soft, warm hand and gives a small smile before leaning in and pressing their lips together. 

Alexis feels like she’s been flipped upside down or like her lungs have filled with helium. She’s floating, detached from her body, connected to this earth only through the gentle touch of Twyla’s lips against hers. It’s only a quick peck, but Alexis feels warm all over. Twyla’s lips are so soft and she tastes like cocoa and just a hint of peppermint. The cheerful crackling of the fire fills her ears and the silky caress of Twyla's hair tickles her cheeks.

Twyla pulls back and smiles broadly before turning to face the fireplace again. Before Alexis has a chance to say or do anything else, Twyla is wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing Alexis to her side. 

“We can definitely keep in touch, Alexis. I would like that very much. Now, tell me more about what you’ve been up to in New York.”

Alexis settles into Twyla’s embrace, resting her head on Twyla’s shoulder and letting out a long sigh as the uncertainty drains from her body. Twyla was right when she told Alexis that she doesn't need money to find what really makes her smile.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr [@landofsonlali](https://landofsonlali.tumblr.com/)!


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